ORIGIN

Cleanest We’ve Seen: ’75 Jensen Healey Roadster

9/24/2008 Update: This Jensen Healey did not meet reserve at $14k with 11 bidders. That is the most we have ever seen offered for the model. The $22,600 Buy-It-Now was not selected.

From 9/18/2008:

This 1975 Jensen Healey has been given a recent cosmetic restoration with very nice paint, leather interior, and Panasport wheels. We’re not usually a fan of the model, but this one comes together very nicely. Find it here on eBay in Great Neck, New York.

The selling dealer doesn’t list many details about the car, and concentrates heavily on details about the interior and stereo. Not many of these cars a given a paint job this nice, and the large photos in the auction listing show a high quality surface finish difficult to attain on a black car.

We like the sculpted rear fender design and think these are some of the cleanest DOT impact bumpers you could find post-1974. The interior is very clean and we like the original wood dash and gauges. We’d pull the stereo or hide it in the glove box, and then look for a era-correct British wood wheel.

The engine is a recently rebuilt twin-cam 4-cylinder with dual carbs.Â These were supplied by Lotus and were 1973cc in displacement with 16-valves and 144 bhp from the factory.

We like the looks of the Jensen Healey and think that the dark color and wheel choice are perfect. This dealer might be optimistic on price, but someone who loves this model might be willing to pony up for an example as clean as this one. Seeing this car restores our optimism for these roadsters.